By Pishtaz | 2024-12-31

As the Houthis attack ships in the Red Sea and adjoining waterways using weapons and drones supplied by the Iranian regime, the United States has been working to protect international shipping in the key commercial corridor.

It has done this by targeting Houthi weapon depots and infrastructure, launching a multinational security initiative, and via a sanctions campaign targeting the Iranian regime's weapon procurement and manufacturing process.

A new tranche of US sanctions announced December 18 target two entities and two individuals for their role in developing and procuring components for sensitive navigational systems for the Iranian military.

Iran-based Sanat Danesh Rahpuyan Aflak Company (SDRA) and its Swiss front company Illumove SA supplied drone components to Tehran's military and proxy forces, including Yemen's Houthis, the US Treasury said.

SDRA supplied more than 1,000 Sepehr navigation systems to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) between 2022 and 2023, it said.

Illumove SA was specifically established to circumvent international restrictions by procuring Western technology for SDRA, it added.

Sanctions also have been imposed on SDRA chief executive officer Mohammed Abedininajafabadi and chief technology officer Kaveh Merat.

Italian authorities arrested Abedininajafabadi after an SDRA Sepehr navigation system was found in a drone that killed three US service members at the Tower 22 base in Jordan last January.

"Iran continues to try to acquire these critical components covertly to facilitate the production of its ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) weapon systems," said Treasury official Bradley Smith.

Houthis' ongoing violence

The IRGC has provided the Houthis with both weaponry and training.

"The IRGC is inside Yemen, serving side by side with the Houthis, advising them and providing targeting information," US Naval Forces Central Command's Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told CBS News in February.

Between November 2023 and August 2024, the Houthis launched 88 attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden, per the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration.

In March, a Houthi missile strike killed three crew members aboard the Barbados-flagged cargo ship True Confidence.

The same month, the Houthis attacked the Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated Rubymar, which sank in the Red Sea with 21,000 tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer on board.

The ongoing violence, which has affected over 55 nations, has forced major shipping companies to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding up to two weeks to transit times and increasing shipping costs.

Since December 2023, the multinational security initiative Operation Prosperity Guardian has been working to protect ships in the Red Sea under the auspices of the Combined Maritime Forces and its Task Force 153.